‘I was quite scared on the plane’, says Tobias de Saint Laurent (Security Studies). Together with fellow students Jonathan Duifhuizen, Manon Monsarrat and Ven Černjul (International Relations), he travelled to the Ukrainian capital to make a documentary about three artists from areas now occupied by Russia.
‘We want to show how creativity and personal lives have been affected by the war in Ukraine’, explains Černjul.
Once they arrived in Ukraine, the students’ feelings of fear began to subside. On the bus, they saw people going about their daily lives. Yet at the same time, they were confronted with the war night after night. On all but two of the eight nights of their stay, the students experienced Russian attacks and spent hours in a bomb shelter.
CATCHING UP ON SLEEP
‘We simply waited it out’, says Černjul. ‘We talked to people, stared at our phones or read something. Sometimes we went over the work for the next day. Other times we tried to catch up on some sleep.’
‘Even during the short time we were there, it was difficult to get a full night’s sleep’, says De Saint Laurent. ‘After filming, we head back to the safe world of the Netherlands. But the people there live under the constant pressure of the war. In the West, people have become desensitised by the news from Ukraine. People need to get a better understanding of what life in Ukraine is actually like.’
The idea came about during a conversation between Černjul and De Saint Laurent about art in Ukraine. Together, they decided to approach the war from that perspective. Within a few weeks, the team was assembled. Černjul conducted the interviews, Monsarrat and De Saint Laurent were responsible for filming and sound, and Duifhuizen served as the lead director and handled the technical aspects of the documentary.
The three artists they ultimately chose to focus on live in Kyiv. Together, the students had made a selection of artists they found interesting. ‘What we didn’t know when we first arrived there was that the three of them already knew each other and were friends. They met in Kyiv’, says De Saint Laurent.
TRAUMATISED BODY
Kateryna Aliinyk, Krystyna Melnyk and Vasyl Tkachenko come from Luhansk, Melitopol and Mariupol respectively. The three of them each have their own distinct style, but share an important background. They come from cities that are now occupied by Russia. Their work brings together memories of home, identity, nature and uncertainty about the future.
Aliinyk focuses primarily on painting. The most important themes in her work are the war and the occupation of Ukraine. In her paintings, Melnyk focuses on portraying the traumatised body. Tkachenko also paints a lot, but works with photography, film and music as well. The main themes in his repertoire are memories and identity.
In the film, the artists explain how the conflict has affected their creative lives. ‘Their work is very personal’, says Duifhuizen. ‘It was interesting to hear their stories and see how they take us to places we wouldn’t normally get to see.’
NATURE IN THE CITY
In addition to visiting the interviewees’ studios, they also visited places such as Trukhaniv Island, a large natural area in the heart of Kyiv. For the artists, it is a place to seek inspiration, to retreat from the city or to reconnect with nature.
The film, which is provisionally titled Trukhaniv, is being produced entirely by the four students themselves. Their aim is to show that, even though a war taking place far away is starting to become normalised for the public, there is an everyday life behind every news report, according to De Saint Laurent. ‘I think we’ve done really well for our first professional documentary. The relationships we’ve built with those people there, I like it very much.’
The students are now busy with post-production. The film is expected to be released on YouTube in January 2027. Those interested can follow the production process and developments surrounding the film via Instagram, @trukhaniv_doc.